Monica Hallman

She was my hero.

I watched her night after night on AFN news feed from Washington, D.C., or wherever in the world they sent her . Or maybe it was the stories she read the leads for. I thought she was just the best Navy journalist I had ever seen. I think her hazel eyes may have had something to do with it. For a while, it seemed like she was my only companion in Italy. I didn't know anyone there, I just knew that I wanted to go. As with most excursions, the fantasy of a place is usually much different from the reality of it.

Italy was hard when I lived in The Agnano crater. It was the most God awful place in the military in Europe. I could see why they called Naples the armpit of Europe, but I was undeterred. The Agnano crater, where the Marine and Navy detachments were stationed, was literally a volcanic fumarole. It stunk of sulfur night and day, but if you didn't think that could get any worse, the farmers who cultivated the slopes of the crater often burned their dried crop waste. When they did I finally understood the Los Angeles smog situation. There was no where for the smoke to go but down and settle where our housing was. I remember one night it got so bad that I couldn't sleep. I got up and got a towel, wet it and went around the floor telling others to do the same. The smoke was like nothing i've smelled before. Every inhale burned the back of my throat. That night - and several others - I spent in a shower stall under running water. It was truly hell on earth and they stationed American enlisted troops there. Most of the officers lived out on the economy. It was bad. But after work, there was always Monica Hallman delivering the news like Walter Cronkite.

Geremy Boorda was a prior enlisted man who rose to the rank of 4-star admiral. He made things a lot better there in the crater. He got back to the states and took a bullet in the chest. They said it was suicide. Allegedly for wearing a medal or ribbon he didn't earn. took a bullet in the chest for making things better for us over there. He was a leader. Chris and I voiced some social commentary on the radio station, that I feel helped make some changes. I don't think they were really ready for people saying, this ain't so bad. Get up and do something. Italy is a vacation spot and our troops were missing out. We brought it to them through our video cameras and our news cast.

Out station went from nowhere to 1st place. Y?
I took a beta cam camera and shot the local news. Chris helped me out a lot. We made that station and that area fun. Naples was not bad. It really reminded me of Brooklyn. It was a little lawless, a little out of control, but it was full of life. It's a place you have to embrace - after you put your wallet in a safe place. And when you did, it embraced you back with more love than most people can handle.

Naples, the great walled city. Parts of the walls are now apartment. The coffee and the food is like no where else in Italy. It's an amazing place. Rome; just two hours north on the Autostrade, but if you're not in a hurry, I like taking the Appian way. The road the Roman legions used to get around. It's still lined with tall pine trees to give shade year-round.

Then I fell in love with Felicia Wyche. An Engineer. like those who went to Brooklyn Technical High School. OMG! B.T. B.T. B.T. (That was my first outside socialization on Earth. Ogranized sports.) And she wsa nooo good. She liked having me around, but she was on a mission. One that has her in Italian prison to this day, I'll bet.

But there was always Monica Hallman.
And the best part of the time I spent in Italy at AFN, was that head-to-head our local news beat out the Washington, D.C. news - the DoD's premiere station. We were the best in the DoD world.